I wrote a blog post several months ago about a solution I had come across that saved me some time.

The issue is that I take profuse notes in a Word doc when I’m meeting with clients. Since I can type about 9.6x faster and 187% more legibly than I can write by hand.  I typically write out task items and notes like this:

Task #1

• This is important to do
• This should also be done

Task #2

• This is uber-important
• Don’t forget to do this, or client will kill you

When I’m done taking all my notes, I add those to Basecamp for the rest of the team, and so we have a nice backup that can also be searched later by our staff or the client.

The Problem is that Word formatting doesn’t allow a simple copy/paste into Basecamp.  And while I’m pretty savvy at writing in Textile, I’m not as fast and therefore don’t do it when I’m working in Word.

The Solution that I found several months ago was a Macro for Word that would convert a .docx into a format that is ready for MediaWiki.  That’s not exactly what I needed, because it’s close – but it’s not Textile. I was still having to manually edit my notes and that was a pain.

The New Solution is that I’ve hacked the original file from InfoPro.com to meet my needs exactly, and the result is a perform conversion from Word to Textile that I can copy and paste without any editing! Thanks to those guys for giving me the start to work with, because I would never have taken the time to do this if I had to start from scratch!

Installation

1. Download our Word2Textile macro (<-right-click and Save As)
2. Start Word
3. Bring up the Visual Basic Editor (Tools->Macro->Visual Basic Editor)
4. From the VBE, import the macro library (File->Import File…) and select the file you downloaded

Usage

1. Open a word document to convert
2. Run the Word2Textile macro by bringing up the Macros dialog (Tools->Macro->Macros), selecting Word2Textile and clicking Run.
3. The macro converts the document to Textile markup and places a copy of the content on the system clipboard.
4. Open up the Basecamp message or writeboard you will use, and be sure you are in Textile/HTML mode. It should look like this:
5. Paste your content (which is automatically copied to your clipboard by the Macro) and Voila!

If this little technique saves you as much time as it saves me, then you’re welcome.

I happened across an excellent solution tonight for a problem that takes up a lot of time, but tiny bits at a time.

The Problem
I meet with clients and take copious meeting notes. Since we use Basecamp for everything in our agency, we archive all meeting notes into Basecamp so that they are backed up and can be referenced by all teams.  The issue is that I take my meeting notes in Word, since it’s easiest for me to quickly and easily produce an outline.  Getting that data turned into the same info for Basecamp was always a pain because it required a lot of manual reformatting, which equals an enormous waste of time.

The Solution
I figured that there had to be an easy way to convert Word formatting into Textile formatting. Instead of using bullet points in Word, you use asterisks (*) to create bullet points with Textile.  Easy enough, but when I get on a roll and really need to quickly get thoughts down- I find that I’m much better at hitting the Tab key to create sub-points and quickly get down an outline.

After a little poking around, I found exactly what I needed to convert a Word document with standard bullet point formatting into a Textile formatted doc that I can just copy/paste into Basecamp. And Poof! It was just this simple: you install a Visual Basic macro into Word that does it all for you with a few clicks.

Update 6/10/11:  After playing using this a few times, I realized that I need to hack this file so that it is more geared for Textile, and less for WikiMedia.  I’ve updated the link below so that the download is of my file, which will work much better for Basecamp users.

Installation

1. Download Valeo’s Word2Textile macro (<-right-click and Save As)
2. Start Word
3. Bring up the Visual Basic Editor (Tools->Macro->Visual Basic Editor or Alt+F11).
4. From the VBE, import the macro library (File->Import File…) and select the file you downloaded.

Usage

1. Open a word document to convert
2. Run the Word2MediaWiki macro by bringing up the Macros dialog (Tools->Macro->Macros… or Alt+F8), selecting Word2MediaWiki and clicking Run.
3. The macro converts the document to MediaWiki markup and places a copy of the content on the system clipboard.
4. Switch to a MediaWiki editor and paste the result.

That just saved me about 2.37 minutes of reformatting my meeting notes.  I project that will save me… (computer beepy noises) …  more time than that down the road.  Yeah – you’re welcome.

A big thanks to http://www.infpro.com for providing the great VB script and instructions for it’s use!

B.L. Ochman has kept me entertained with his various articles poking fun at the proliferation of people claiming to be social media gurus. His most recent article about how the number of self-proclaimed “social media guru” titles has gone down but other, but new titles are emerging got me thinking:

Hiring a [social media] strategist, guru, consultant, or any other title is a bad idea for 99% of the companies I come in contact with.

Now, before someone with that title gets all upset and leaves me a heated comment, let me explain why I feel this way.

Social media is a very small piece of what it takes for the majority of businesses to succeed online, pure and simple. Hiring someone who is a recently name social media _________ is a bad idea, because it’s very likely that person knows little about many of the other tools in the online marketing arsenal.  It takes years of study, trial and error, discipline, and a little luck; to become an effective online marketer.  Do you really want to hire someone who has mastered Twitter and Facebook to manage your online strategy?

If you think you need a social media strategist, then I’m going to make a very educated guess and say that is probably only a part (maybe a small part) of what you need.  Most businesses I start working with are not doing many of the other fundamental things right – so why would you jump into social media?!

If you’re not effectively marketing to search engines and generating qualified traffic that converts, then you have work to do before diving into social media.

If you are not segmenting your customers with email lists, cross-promoting to them and building loyalty and referrals, then you have work to do before diving into social media.

These are some sweeping generalizations, but it boils down to this: you need an online strategist, not a social media __________. You need someone who can look at your business and craft a solution from all the many tools in the online marketing toolbox, not just push you into social media because it’s what everyone wants to talk about right now.

Related articles:

• Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Your Social Media Marketing (verticalmeasures.com)
• 3 Social Media Myths You Should Be Careful Of (onesocialmedia.com)
• The Big Myth – Anyone Can Do Social Media (charlesheflin.com)

A ran into a friend of mine the other day at the marvelous Greek Festival that they have every year in Memphis, and he said something that really struck me.

As we were walking towards the gates, he was pushing his new daughter Lila’s stroller and said, “you know, the whole world looks different the moment you start pushing one of these around.” I tried to put myself into Brad’s shoes as a new father, and think about how I would feel if I was pushing around a stroller with my baby in it.

I realized that I do exactly the same thing anyway, because my business is my baby. My baby is impacted by every turn I take and even the slightest nudging as I push it along the path that we’re on.

Planning for long-term growth of a business is crucial, but you have to keep an eye on the things that are right in front of you as well. I know that I tend to focus too much on what’s right in front of me, and not take the time to scan the horizon and see what else is coming. Mastering this balance is something that I hope I’m lucky enough to figure out someday.

Oh yeah, and here’s your online marketing tip: don’t spam.  There you go – you’re welcome.